Global Best Practices Conference – 2018 Reflections

You know when you try something for the first time and the experience is so good that you wonder what took you so long to finally do it? Well, I had that happen to me recently.

The company I lead has been a sponsor of the Global Best Practices Conference (GBPC) for a few years now, but up until this year, I have never been myself. This year it just made sense for me to go and spend three days in Dallas mixing it up with this audience. Here are a few of the many takeaways from that week.

Transforming Data Into Knowledge

TDn2K, the company that hosts the GBPC, is well-regarded in the food service industry and many of their leaders are former restaurant executives. They bring that experience and their wealth of relationships to form the foundation of this event. Membership in their data reporting products is the backbone of this conference and then it is also open to non-members.

The conference focus was on the importance of developing people, and really at its heart is the importance of loving people, in all our glorious diversity. A common thread was having a purpose beyond profit, and the three principles of the event were:

People

Planet

Profit

You could tell that the attendees and the speakers not only knew what that meant but also practiced it and wanted to get better at it.

Giving Back

The opening night kick-off exemplified this focus with a food and supply packing event with backpacks that were slated for disadvantaged kids supporting the local Greater Dallas Boys & Girls Club and TDn2K partners at No Kid Hungry. Everyone got a special shirt – provided by Righteous, of course – that they wore for the evening and cocktail reception that followed. I’m personally grateful that there was a conscientious choice made to start an executive conference with giving to those less fortunate, and that focus didn’t end there.

Changers of Commerce

The last day of the conference, which is a bonus day, is called Changers of Commerce. They bring speakers in who talk about having a deeper purpose in business and the difference it has made. I got to present a few years at one of their conferences on a partnership my business grew with a local high school here in our hometown. Hearing other’s perspectives and stories this year encouraged me to look for new partnerships that my business could forge to help our community.

Changers of Commerce is a movement to create awareness about the power of doing well by doing good. Called conscious, creative and connected capitalism, its essence is the intentional focus on elevating the lives of our employees, guests and members of our community through our work.

Most people want their job to matter beyond just the status and money it provides. This conference reinforced the message that it is possible to do well by doing good.